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Will the Right Boots Stop You from Slipping on Ice?

15 Dec 2023

Have you ever slipped on ice and fallen on your derrière? At best, it is unpleasant; at worst, it can send you to the hospital with a broken bone (or even kill you). Icy sidewalks and parking lots...

Is This Gadget a Scam?

24 Nov 2023

Anyone who owns a car and who lives in snowy climes will be tempted by this. What if you could buy a small device that you left in your car and that magically melted the snow off of it and...

Professor Popsicle’s Physiological Proof

17 Feb 2023

Growing up with cold Canadian winters means that we get to enjoy tobogganing, skiing, and other snowy activities. It also means that from a young age, we’re warned of the dangers of getting too cold.

Is it true that no two snowflakes are identical?

9 Dec 2022

Snow crystals—better known as snowflakes—are intricate, delicate, tiny miracles of beauty. Their very existence seems unlikely, yet incomprehensible numbers of them fall every year to iteratively...

Is there a difference between real snow and "artificial snow"?

17 Feb 2022

Snow-making machines actually make tiny beads of ice, each one about one ten-thousandth of an inch in diameter. Water is sprayed from a hose together with compressed air. The air is needed because...

Do the holidays cause heart attacks?

23 Dec 2021

This article was first published in The Skeptical Inquirer

How can I stop getting static shocks?

20 Feb 2020

If you live in Canada, you know what a nightmare winter can be for your hair. No, not because of hat hair, (or at least not entirely because of hat hair), but because of static electricity! All...

Can Darth Vader Improve Your Winter Mood?

27 Sep 2019

If you saw Darth Vader endorse a product, would you feel the desire to buy it?

Did you know you should apply lip balm before your lips get chapped?

18 Jan 2018

Lip balms are not designed to repair your skin. Instead, their emollient properties create a barrier between your thin, vulnerable lips and the surrounding air. Skin becomes dry when water in its...

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